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I'd like to show you guys a very rare site that few photographers (or cavers) see. It is the Great Hall of Mysteries, part of Tumbling Rock Cave in Scottsboro, Al. It is about 3 miles back, 500ft below the surface of the earth.

Cave photography is normally a challenge as it requires either extremely expensive flash bulbs (which are usually illuminant for 1/30th of a second to 2 seconds depending on how much you're willing to spend), or via "painting" with a spotlight.

This isn't a tourist cave. This is the real deal. No walkways, no paths, just climbing boulders and crawling. Muddy and slick, it took 3 hours to get to this location. It is one of three shots I'll show you from this trip. Hope you enjoy!

I'm struggling to work out the relationship between the ring and the actual text on the pages of the book. Is it a deliberate choice or was it a random back drop?
I love the set up for the shot but the words don't work for me.

This isn't a tourist cave. This is the real deal. No walkways, no paths, just climbing boulders and crawling. Muddy and slick, it took 3 hours to get to this location. It is one of three shots I'll show you from this trip. Hope you enjoy!

I'm struggling to work out the relationship between the ring and the actual text on the pages of the book. Is it a deliberate choice or was it a random back drop?
I love the set up for the shot but the words don't work for me.

Yeah, it was random...I am going to reshoot it with Song of Solomon behind it... but someone wanted to see the ring and that happen to be the closet book. haha

Sure. We worked with at team from the SCCI (Southeastern Cave Conservancy Inc) that purcahses/leases land with cave structrues on it. Tumbling Rock is one of their properties.

The particular guy that lead us began developing in 2005 a system called S.I.T. or Sustained Illumination Technique. These are home made lighting kits developed to offer three factors : 1. Strength, to light as much as possible. and 2. Longevity, to keep the area as lit as possible. 3. Lightweight. You are afterall, hauling these back into a cave.

We lit the Great Hall with one of these S.I.T. devices. It lasted about 15 minutes, just long enough to figure out a good exposure time and pop a few shots off. This one was 10 seconds, ISO 400 f8. The blue tint was already their, but I pushed it a bit further with a tungsten white balance.

We're very lucky to have the guys we did. Most cave photography is either done with expensive flash bulbs, which only light for a few seconds at most, or by "painting" with a spotlight. Very few get the chance to see these entire structures lit as they are whole, much less for such a period of time.

Hope you enjoy. Now time for another shot. This is the Topless Dome of Tumbling Rock. It was only once called "Topless" because it was too high to see the top. At 396ft high it is the largest known underground waterfall. It was measured by a climbing team that climbed the walls in the 1970's, thinking there was a way out. There isn't. the water pours through a very tiny crevace at the top. It is the most spectacular experience I think I have ever seen. Our guides were real showmen too, and as we approached it they lit it up, and even used a spare battery, ipod, and speakers to play music. It brought a majority of to tears. Absolutely breathless.